This was my first time making caramel and it came out awesome!! I forgot to put the pinch of salt and the vanilla because I was so excited that I was making caramel! It tasted delicious anyways! I did listen to the reviews though and made sure it cooked long to reach the higher temperature. I dont have a candy thermometer so I kinda guessed. Cooked it for 20minutes on medium heat.
Thanks for this recipe! It is sooo delicious and everyone loves it, even my mother who is a salty kinda snacker, she was impressed!

Reviewer:

I followed the advice of other posters, and cooked to 248° so the caramels would be easier to cut and wrap. All I had was dark brown sugar, which makes the caramels really dark, but they still tasted great. I took half of the batch to a Christmas party, and people were raving about them. My twelve year old son said "That's a lot of butter!" All of the butter is what makes them taste so good.

Reviewer:

This caramel is awesome! After reading and following some reviewer's suggestions, I found this really wonderful! I like the softer caramels too, I doubled the recipe, cooked to the soft ball stage plus 2 mins, used parchment paper, buttered the sides of a jelly roll pan, and let it sit all day before wrapping it up. After a few practice wraps, I finally got the size and how to wrap each piece. I think I will try making it again and boil it to the firm ball stage. At any rate, I'm sending this to school for our teachers sweets exchange! Looking forward to their positive comments!

Reviewer:

These caramels were a huge success. However, I made two changes: 1) as suggested by other reviewers, I increased the cooking temperature to about 250F. 2) I sprinkled some sea salt on top of the caramel. Very easy recipe and the outcome is simply divine! Soft and chewy caramel! Thanks HARSHMA for the recipe!

Reviewer:

This is the exact same recipe from my Homes and Garden Cookbook I received for a wedding gift in 1976. I can't believe there are any criticisms for this recipe. If you want harder carmels cook them to the firm ball stage instead of soft ball. Dah

Reviewer:

I have made this recipe for years and have always been happy with the great taste but it definitely needs to cook to hard ball stage. Best way to check the firmness is to do a cold water test when it gets close to the 248/250 degree stage. Caution - this must be stirred constantly or it will scorch and burn. People are always surprised that making caramels takes much longer to cook than most recipes indicate. Slow and steady makes great results.

Reviewer:

I make this recipe every single year!!!!! I don't even like store bought caramels, and I can't get enough of these! This year, I decided to try sprinkling some sea salt on top of the mixture as soon as it was in the pan.... It made them even better! Next I'm going to try dipping them in milk chocolate, and then sprinkling them with sea salt... YUMMO!!!!!!!!